Chandrayaan-2 mission 98 per cent successful: ISRO chief

Chandrayaan-2, India’s second moon mission spacecraft, had lifted off successfully onboard the “Bahubali” rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on July 22.

SNS Web | New Delhi | September 21, 2019 4:08 pm

Chandrayaan-2 lift-off (File Photo: Twitter | ISRO)

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Sivan on Saturday said Chandrayaan-2 mission has achieved 98 per cent of its objectives while they are yet to establish any communication with lander ‘Vikram’.

“We could not have established any communication with the lander yet. The project was developed in two parts – science and technology demonstration. We achieved total success in science objective while in technology demonstration, the success percentage was almost full. That’s why the project can be termed as 98 per cent successful,” Sivan told media persons.

“Orbiter continues to perform scheduled science experiments to complete satisfaction. There are eight instruments in the orbiter and each instrument is doing exactly what it meant to do,” he said.

“The orbiter was initially planned for a year, but with the optimum mission planning there is every possibility that it will last for another seven and a half years benefiting us for science experiments,” the ISRO chief added.

Meanwhile, the deadline for the ISRO to restore its link with Chandrayaan-2 lander Vikram ends today.

The Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover, which is fitted inside it, have a mission life of 14 earth days.

In a major setback for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), communications between the moon lander Vikram and the orbiter got snapped as the former was only 2.1 km away from its designated landing spot on the moon’s South Pole early on September 7 morning.

The lander, which was expected to make a “soft-landing” on the lunar surface crashed, and communication was lost, throwing a pall of gloom at the ISRO centre.

ISRO has been racing against time to spring ‘Vikram’ back to life and salvage the lander-rover part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission.

Chandrayaan-2, India’s second moon mission spacecraft, had lifted off successfully onboard the “Bahubali” rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on July 22.